Whether a student is in elementary school, middle school, high school, or college, they are writing and creating images that communicate what they are writing into an image. In elementary and middle school, they might be making a slideshow project for their civics class. In high school, students may be on the yearbook staff where they have to decide which pictures and which quotes go on which page. College students may be writing a blog for a class like this one, where they are choosing an image that enhances their writing in the post.
Students who are digital writers “must also, now, be competent graphic designers” (Lawrence, 2022, p. 108). Being able to find or create images that relate to or enhance your writing so that your audience has something else to relate to that keeps them interested in what you wrote. It is important to remember that humans are “visual creators as much as we are textual creatures” (Lawrence, 2022, p. 109) just like how students can be different types of learners: visual, auditory, social, verbal, etc. DIGITAL WRITING AND INFOGRAPHICS IN THE CLASSROOM Infographics can be a great way to get your audience to read your writing while also staying engaged due to the design of the infographic being so appealing. Infographics are a notable way for students to use their artistry skills in writing and graphic design. Students also can learn from these infographics. As educators, we can evoke our students' learning through these infographics if we design them based on what our audience, the students, are interested in, whether that be the outdoors, pop culture, sports, music, art, etc. Watch this video to see more about how infographics can be used in the classroom.
If we allow our creativity to show in order to engage our students in the given topic, we may have more success in their mastery of the topic. Not only can infographics be pretty and aesthetic, but they can expose more understanding that may not have happened in a simple lecture. References Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web. Broadview Press.
I just recently made my first infographic and I think my students would highly enjoy making one themselves! I teach 3rd grade and it would be a perfect way for them to use their creativity as well as enhance their own writing loved your point about us educators making sure that we chose based on our students interests to evoke their learning. Laurence says, " Humans are creatures who, in most circumstances, are visual-first beings (2022 p 105)." I think infographics would be a great ways to keep my students engaged and interested in what we are learning. Thank you for sharing your insights!
ReplyDeleteI loved your article. I like how you have carried over the pink theme with each article. I love the different ideas you gave for using infographics for middle school, high school, and college. In elementary school, the kids could create a web for the beginning of a writing process. The infographic that you created was very informative.
ReplyDeleteHaley, I really liked how you focused on imagery in this article. Like our Digital Writing book stated, we are visual learners first (Lawrence, 2022). Not only do images engage learners, but when using digital designs like infographics, students are able to utilize the creative process to enhance their own writing. What a good point! I know my lower elementary students love to create illustrations for their writing. This is another way to do that in the classroom. Thank you for sharing your insight!
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